“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” Isaiah 6:8
Few Christians are willing to write God a blank check, as Isaiah did. When God speaks, we often weigh the cost of serving against our personal preferences. This inner struggle hinders our obedience, not to mention our willingness to step forward without attaching conditions. So, how do we develop a, “Send me” attitude? We need to see what Isaiah saw. His vision of the Lord in chapter 6 paints a stark contrast between God and mankind.
First, we need to recognize who God is. While it’s true that God is a loving Father, He is also holy. “And one [seraph] called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory’” (v3). The repetition of the word holy emphasizes His total separation from sin. We live in a culture that wants the benefit of God’s favor and goodwill without recognition of what His absolute holiness requires—atonement, repentance, and obedience.
We also need to recognize who we are. Seeing God for who He is gave Isaiah amazing clarity about himself. “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (v5). His sinfulness, as well as that of his nation, was unbearable in contrast to the righteousness of the Lord. Today, many sinful thoughts and behaviors are no longer seen as wrong because our society has stopped acknowledging who God is.
Next, we need to recognize what God did. “…your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven” (v7). Isaiah’s confession brought the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness. As followers of Jesus, our guilt has been replaced by God’s grace (Romans 6:23). We don’t need to dwell on past sin, but we do need to have an Isaiah 6 moment, when we recognize the holy God who mercifully and graciously provided the payment for our sins.
When you grasp who God is and what He’s done, then you see yourself from Isaiah’s perspective. This process begins in God’s Word because that’s where He reveals Himself. So, how much time do you spend alone in the presence of God? That’s where we learn to say, “Here I am. Send me!”